Singapore, 08 March 2013 – Singapore Press Holdings Foundation (SPH Foundation) has launched a creative writing competition to mark its 10th Anniversary this year. Titled YOUth Write, the competition is open to secondary school students nationwide. This inaugural competition is a collaboration with IN, a student publication by The Straits Times.

To participate, students are required to submit an essay of between 400 and 500 words based on the theme of how they can make a difference in Singapore. They can choose to submit their essays either in a topical essay format or to complete a story using a short paragraph provided. 50 entries will be short-listed before the judges decide on the top three winners. Submissions will be judged based on content, originality and language. The closing date for submissions is 14 April, midnight.

The top three winners stand to win attractive prizes such as the iPad Mini, a digital camera and an iPod Touch, as well as cash prizes. Book vouchers will also be given away to 20 Merit prize winners. An awards presentation ceremony will be held on 31 May at SPH News Centre auditorium. The school that is represented the most within the top 50 entries will also receive a trophy.

Over the next few weeks, IN will also be running creative writing tips to prime students for this competition. Teachers are also encouraged to use these resources during class discussions to engage their students.

Ms Ginney Lim, General Manager of SPH Foundation, said: “SPH Foundation has always been a firm advocate for lifelong learning, especially in the area of languages. To mark the Foundation's 10th anniversary, we are happy to launch the inaugural YOUth Write competition with the support of IN, a students' publication of The Straits Times. We look forward to see what creative and inspiring ideas our young talents can come up with."

Ms Serene Goh, editor of IN, said: “The partnership between IN and SPH Foundation is a natural one, and we hope to see some really creative entries from students with this competition. We’ve interacted with enough young people to know they have tons of ideas. We're hoping that our writing tips will help them put those ideas on paper. I'm looking forward to giving these pieces a platform in our publication."

The Straits Times, the English flagship daily of SPH, has been serving readers for more than a century. Launched on July 15, 1845, its comprehensive coverage of world news, East Asian news, Southeast Asian news, home news, sports news, financial news and lifestyle updates makes The Straits Times the most-read newspaper in Singapore.

The Straits Times' key strength is in its world class coverage of news outside Singapore. With 20 bureaus in major cities around the world, The Straits Times correspondents bring world news to readers on a Singapore platter, helping them appreciate world events from a Singaporean perspective.

In keeping with the times, The Straits Times introduced weekly supplements such as Digital Life (DL), Urban and Mind Your Body (MYB) to complement The Straits Times as well as IN and Little Red Dot to cater to young readers in schools. In 2010, IN won the World Young Reader prize for the Newspapers In Education category. The prize was awarded by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (Wan-Ifra).

The Straits Times also has an online presence at www.straitstimes.com. The site features top stories, blogs and an online forum threads. Also under The Straits Times' umbrella are citizen journalism site Stomp and online television service The Straits Times RazorTV.

About the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation

The Singapore Press Holdings Foundation, a registered charity and an Institution of Public Character, was first set up as the Press Foundation of Singapore in January 2003 to help build a lifelong learning community that embraces language enrichment, creativity, diversity, healthy living and sports. The seed contribution of $20 million to the Foundation came from media group Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. It was renamed Singapore Press Holdings Foundation in May 2005.